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[Liz01]

News from today
Eaglet ringed in Ahlbeck on May 31, 1993

Ringed on the Szczecin Lagoon 30 years ago – still there
Now he has created a sensation: what is probably the oldest sea eagle in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been identified in a picture. The animal was ringed in May 1993. “Sea eagles that are more than 25 years old are definitely among the very old birds

https://www.nordkurier.de/regional/ueck ... kt-2177664

[Susanne]

https://bnnbreaking.com/world/latvia/a- ... es-unfolds
Feb 27-2024:

A Decade of Drama Above: The Saga of Latvia's White-Tailed Eagles Unfolds

Quote: "Imagine a soap opera set not in the glittering metropolis but in the dense forests of Latvia, where the protagonists are not humans but majestic white-tailed eagles. This is not a figment of imagination but a reality chronicled by the Latvian Fund for Nature through a livestream of a nest in Durbe municipality, revealing an intricate tale of life, loss, and resilience."

[Susanne]

Gray Seal Spits Jet of Water at White-Tailed Eagle in Never Seen Before Encounter
Mar 7, 2024 by News Staff

https://www.sci.news/biology/gray-seal- ... 12747.html

Quote:"Clare Jacobs witnessed a white-tailed eagle swooping towards the water’s surface during a high tide.
As the eagle made its approach, an adult gray seal emerged from the water directly beneath the predator.
(...)
Captured on camera, the encounter showed the gray seal initially emitting barks of warning, but then resorting to the unprecedented defensive tactic spitting a stream of water directly at the eagle."

[Liz01]

In Eagles, lead-poisoned sea eagles are saved from death
In the "VisitErgli" profile of the "Tiktok" platform, Māris Olte shared a video of how a lead-poisoned sea eagle was found in the forest, which is probably a relative of the famous Durbes eagles.

The year of birth of the eagle could be 2016 or 2017.
After looking at the ring of the caught bird, the specialist makes a guess that this eagle is probably a relative of the famous Durbes eagles, whose nest can be watched online for ten years.

BTW: Janis K found the eagle!
https://www.tv3.lv/dzivesstils/dzivniek ... as-erglis/

[Susanne]

Belgium:
https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/de/2024/03/15 ... dler-brut/
March 15, 2024
Quote:
"Breeding sea eagles in the De Blankaart nature reserve: “A first for our country”

Betty breeds in the nature reserve De Blankaart in Woumen (province of West Flanders, a town in the municipality of Diksmuide). Betty is the female of the sea eagle pair that has been there since April last year. It is the first time in hundreds of years that a pair of sea eagles has nested in Belgium."
-> Nice video footage included.

[Susanne]

IMHO, a very good and substantial opinion on the death of of a WTE, shot in Roscommon, Ireland;
March 22, 2024
https://www.mayonews.ie/news/comment--- ... thers.html

OPINION: Undoing the work of others
Yet another of Ireland’s precious white-tailed sea eagles was shot and killed last week

[Susanne]

Sad news from North Rhine-Westphalia:
https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/rheinla ... n-100.html
<Google translator>
Quote.:
"Eagle from the only sea eagle nest in North Rhine-Westphalia found dead

As of: March 26, 2024, 5:32 p.m

It was a dramatic rescue operation at North Rhine-Westphalia's only sea eagle nest today in Xanten: the male was found dead, the offspring could be saved. The sea eagles had previously been extinct here for 200 years.

It actually looked like a successful start to the sea eagle breeding season. Bird watchers were regularly able to observe the pair at the nest and during courtship displays. The male sea eagle was under special observation because it was equipped with a satellite transmitter as a young animal by researchers in the Netherlands.

Sea eagle found dead in field

The birdwatchers sounded the alarm today because the tracking signal was always registered from the same place.
The Bislicher Insel nature reserve between Ginderich and Xanten is a floodplain landscape that was created by changes in the course of the Rhine.
According to the Ruhr regional association, a search operation began immediately. A spokesman confirmed to WDR that the male sea eagle was found dead in a field near the town of Alpen.
(...)
A chick and an egg rescued

Because experts believe the surviving female cannot look after the brood alone, a rescue operation was launched today. Conservationists used a ladder to reach the nest, which is several meters high. According to the RVR , a live chick and an egg were recovered from it. The offspring were handed over to experts at a breeding station in Bocholt."

Cause of the male WTE's death yet unknown.

[Susanne]

Ranging Behavior of Non-Breeding and Breeding Adult White-Tailed Eagles
by Paweł Mirski and Dariusz Anderwald
Diversity 2023, 15(12), 1208; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15121208

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/12/1208
Quote:
"Abstract
Space utilization by animals is vital for species ecology but also a valuable predictor of habitat conditions and environment capacity for a given species. We investigated the ranging behavior of the white-tailed eagle, an apex predator experiencing a significant population increase and saturation. Comparing five adult floaters and two breeding males tracked with GPS loggers in Poland for 1–5 years, we observed substantial differences in space utilization. Breeding males occupied approximately 63 to 122 km2 (using 90% kernel density), while floaters ranged over roughly 6000 to 60,000 km2. Breeding males expanded their home ranges during successful breeding, with one male frequently flying 29 km to a foraging site when raising chicks but hardly doing so in other seasons. Both breeding males revisited nests more frequently in April and May (up to seven times daily, typically two to four), exhibiting distinct seasonal daily movement patterns. Floaters had slightly higher daily movement rates with a weak seasonal pattern. We conclude that breeding males’ ranging behavior depended on proximity to optimal foraging sites, while adult floaters engaged in prolonged wandering."

[Susanne]

https://movementecologyjournal.biomedce ... ticle-info

Penttinen, I., Nebel, C., Stjernberg, T. et al. Large-scale genotypic identification reveals density-dependent natal dispersal patterns in an elusive bird of prey. Mov Ecol 12, 16 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00447-5

Published 15 February 2024

Quote:
"Abstract
Background

Natal dispersal, the distance between site of birth and site of first breeding, has a fundamental role in population dynamics and species’ responses to environmental changes. Population density is considered a key driver of natal dispersal. However, few studies have been able to examine densities at both the natal and the settlement site, which is critical for understanding the role of density in dispersal. Additionally, the role of density on natal dispersal remains poorly understood in long-lived and slowly reproducing species, due to their prolonged dispersal periods and often elusive nature. We studied the natal dispersal of the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) in response to local breeder densities. We investigated the effects of the number of active territories around the natal site on (a) natal dispersal distance and (b) the difference between natal and settlement site breeder density. We were interested in whether eagles showed tendencies of conspecific attraction (positive density-dependence) or intraspecific competition (negative density-dependence) and how this related to settlement site breeder density."

[Susanne]

Survival, Nest Site Affiliation and Post-Fledging Movements of Danish White-Tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla)
by Daniel Palm Eskildsen, Nina Yasmin Ali, Jonas Colling Larsen, Kasper Thorup. Kim Skelmose and Anders P. Totrupp
Published: 23 May 2024
Diversity 2024, 16(6), 314; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16060314
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecology and Conservation of the White-Tailed Eagle and Golden Eagle)

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/6/314

Quote:
"Abstract
The early life movement patterns of long-lived, large raptors, such as the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), remain largely unexplored. In this study, we have tracked 22 individuals of white-tailed eagles hatched in Denmark to investigate key parameters, including survival rates, causes of death, nest site fidelity, geographical distribution, and dispersal behaviors. Our analyses are based on approximately 340,000 GPS/GSM telemetry positions from the 22 individuals. We found that survival rates were lower in the first year of life, especially among females, but increased in subsequent years. The primary causes of death were wind turbine collisions and avian influenza. Movement analyses revealed that juvenile eagles frequented nest sites in August and September, with females showing earlier exploratory flights and dispersal. Both males and females spent most of their first calendar year near their nest sites. In the second calendar year, a significant proportion of their time was spent at well-known white-tailed eagle resting areas in Denmark, as well as visiting neighboring countries. Notably, one individual set a new distance record for a Danish GPS-tagged white-tailed eagle, venturing at least 1750 km away from its nest site to visit Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Norway. Our results, indicating that juvenile white-tailed eagles continue to utilize nest sites into September, suggest an extension of the recommended time period for nest protection zones provided by BirdLife Denmark (DOF)."

[Liz01]

White-tailed Eagle brought to a nest as a stepchild

thanks to sova for providing the link . This action is so interesting that I thought it would be good to translate and share here


https://www.nrz.de/staedte/kreis-wesel/ ... adler.html

Wesel district: This is how the orphaned eagle is doing now
06/03/2024, 4:30 p.m.
By Susanne Zimmermann

Image
A tree climber brought the no longer so small eagle to its new nest, to a sister and to adoptive parents.
© Nabu | Peter Malzbender


Wesel district/Poel Island. The young sea eagle from Bislich Island has found a replacement family. How the adult birds reacted to the strange young animal.

An orphaned young sea eagle from Bislich Island has been given a new chance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It was placed in a strange nest.
There was great concern as to whether the other young animal would accept it. Its survival was ultimately decided by the "adoptive parents" who have to care for the strange animal from the Lower Rhine.
So far, no such experiment has been documented; the conservationists at the Nabu Bird of Prey Station did pioneering work. For the first time since he was very small, the young sea eagle from Bislich Island has now seen a living member of its own species. A female, a little younger than himself. And he has marveled at the open landscape, from a height of 20 meters, seen trees and leaves, felt the wind in his feathers. "It was great," enthuses Peter Malzbender from the team at the bird of prey station in the Schill barracks in Wesel. "He spread his wings, flapped them, and obviously enjoyed it." The young eagle from Bislich Island could find his freedom here, on the island of Poel in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, high in the crown of a poplar, with his new half-sister. The good news first: although experts had their doubts, the two young animals get on well and find each other fascinating. It was a long road to get there and the bird of prey conservationists are not quite there yet: Now it was up to the adults: would they accept the stranger from the Lower Rhine, feed him and show him how to become a real sea eagle?


He was three days old and had uncertain chances: Peter Malzbender with the little eagle after his rescue.
© Nabu | Peter Malzbender

Where does the second young bird in the nest come from?
The eagle parents looked confused, observers report. Suddenly a strange young bird was sitting in their nest. The adults have obviously come to terms with the fact that they now have another hungry beak to feed, even if they probably cannot explain how this could have happened. The animals are being carefully observed and the new family life seems to be settling in. The older birds bring food, and the two young birds share it without quarreling, reports Malzbender. The Wesel district Nabu chairman is proud, "such an action has never been documented anywhere before," he says. Lucky for the young eagle, who had previously been a sad, unlucky bird.

The animal now weighs 3.9 kilos and has an enormous wingspan. At some point in the next two to three weeks it will learn to use its wings. Then it's a matter of finding out how to hunt: only other animals can teach them this properly. This is how a natural drama comes to a happy end.

The story of the young eagle is quickly told: His father was found dead in a field near Alpen shortly before Easter. After initially suspecting that humans were the cause, it turned out that he had probably lost a fight between birds of prey. Dutch researchers had fitted the animal with a transmitter and at that point discovered that the device was no longer registering any movement.

However, the male sea eagle and his partner had already bred on Bislicher Island at that time. In a rescue operation, helpers recovered a chick and an egg; the female would not have been able to raise her young alone. The female eagle could not get food and keep the little one warm at the same time. All hope for the egg was lost, the rescuers fought for the survival of the tiny living eagle, weighing 81 grams and three days old. Stefanie Wellmann from the team at the bird of prey station called him "Zwergo" and nursed the little bird back to health - with an incubator, special food, and always masked. "It was clear that he was not going to be an aviary bird," explains Malzbender. That's why he wasn't allowed to get too used to people. To give him some idea of ​​what species he belongs to, he was given a dummy eagle for company, a sad substitute.

The tiny "Zwergo" became a "real buzzer"
We can no longer speak of a "little eagle"; the young bird has quickly outgrown the name "Zwergo". "In the last four weeks, he has increased his weight thirty-fold," says Malzbender, his claws are already bigger than Malzbender's own hands, and those are not small. "He's a real buzzer."

The young share the food without quarreling
Peter Malzbender - Nabu Bird of Prey Station Wesel
This is exactly where the problem lay: the young eagle hatched on March 23, earlier than many of its conspecifics in Germany. To enable him to live in freedom, Malzbender drove him to the Eekholt Wildlife Park in Schleswig-Holstein to find adoptive parents for the young bird among the numerous breeding pairs of sea eagles there. The search proved difficult: "We needed a nest with only one young bird, around his age. Otherwise there would have been stress between the young ones, they would have fought each other."


This picture shows how big the formerly helpless, fluffy little one has become: The tree climber tries to get the youngster under control in order to get him into the 20-meter-high poplar and the nest.
© Nabu | Peter Malzbender

Using a drone, they searched for the right place, but either there were two young ones or one was still too small. Malzbender picked up the orphaned boy - who was being cared for professionally and lovingly by the head of the wildlife park, André Rosen - and brought him to the island of Poel. With the help of the ringer René Feige from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Sea Eagle Protection Association, one of the region's 450 nests was finally found that might be a good fit: Here, too, the female youngster was not actually old enough, but the females are bigger than the male sea eagles anyway. It might be a good fit. Freshly ringed and using a tree climber, the young bird found its place in the new nest in what looked like a daredevil operation.

Thanks for the "great cooperation"
Now it's not the case that anyone can simply transport a protected bird of prey across Germany, regardless of their intentions. But the fate of the little bird has set many people in motion: at the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of the Wesel district, for example, and at Michael Jöbges from LANUV, everything went very quickly, a number of permits were granted and made the seemingly impossible possible. Malzbender, who rarely spares criticism and is happy to make himself unpopular by doing so, praises the commitment and is grateful for it, "the cooperation was great". The Nabu also played its part, because this rescue operation was costly. The state is paying for the food, but with everything else the conservationists invested a good 1000 euros in the future of the young bird - and many hours of time.

Does it make any ecological sense to start such an operation? "In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania they certainly wouldn't have done that and would have let nature take its course," says Malzbender. There is a large sea eagle population there. But there was only one breeding pair living on the Lower Rhine, as well as a few young birds that have not yet produced any offspring. Many people are following the fate of this species that is so rare in the region. In its new nest, the young sea eagle from Bislich Island is now growing up in a dreamlike landscape, in the Salzhaff with its vast bodies of water. It was an experiment. The fact that it was successful is also a big step for science, says Malzbender. It has been discovered that injured young birds can be released back into the wild. Many experts had previously laughed at the action and said it had no chance of success, he says. The happy ending now disproves this.

[Susanne]

Thank you Liz for sharing this story! Kudos to all who were involved in cooperation. Wow, transporting such a heavy eaglet as a tree-climber! Hopefully there will be sightings in the future, so we may learn more about his experiment. Now it's up to - formerly called - 'Zwergo' to live a WTE's life.

[Susanne]

White-tailed eagles spend a year caring for injured chick

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gxvgp6reo

Quote:
"Two white-tailed eagles have taken a break from breeding to spend a year caring for their injured chick, leaving experts amazed.
The chick injured its left wing in July last year after its nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather on the Isle of Mull.
Despite the chick's sibling surviving the fall and leaving the nest last autumn, the injured bird's story has been a little less smooth.
Now into its second year of life, the chick is relying on the help of its parents to stay fed and watered.
Dave Sexton, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds(RSPB) Mull Officer, said the behaviour from the parents was "quite extraordinary".
(...)
Mr Sexton says the RSPB are in "uncharted waters" after the discovery and they will be keeping a close eye on the bird.
"I’ve checked with as many white-tailed eagles experts as I can and we’re not finding any other examples of this anywhere else, so it seems to be new behaviour and we’re watching it very closely."

[sova]

Susanne, I have just read

https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/news/wh ... r-of-life/

[Susanne]

Although the results of monitoring WTEs and their diet refer to a specific geographical area of ​​study (Isle of Wight), this is highly interesting.

White-tailed Eagle diet
June 5, 2024

https://www.roydennis.org/2024/06/05/wh ... agle-diet/

Quote:
"Changes with age

Our work has shown that White-tailed Eagle diet changes with age, which, in light of a paucity of other studies on juvenile/sub-adult birds, is a noteworthy finding. Carrion is very important for young birds in their first and second years, and they also favour mammals – particularly rabbits, when they are young. However, as they become older, they tend to gravitate towards wetland sites, where fish becomes the preferred prey item, as illustrated in the graphs below. Fish are either live caught or pirated from other piscivorous birds. Last year, when the first pair of White-tailed Eagles bred successfully, more than 50% of the prey items brought to the nest by the adults birds, G405 and G471, were fish. "

The Isle of Wight offers them a seasonal specialty which we won't see in the Baltic countries: cuttlefish!

[Susanne]

Although the results of monitoring WTEs and their diet refer to a specific geographical area of ​​study (Isle of Wight), this is highly interesting.

White-tailed Eagle diet
June 5, 2024

https://www.roydennis.org/2024/06/05/wh ... agle-diet/

Quote:
"Changes with age

Our work has shown that White-tailed Eagle diet changes with age, which, in light of a paucity of other studies on juvenile/sub-adult birds, is a noteworthy finding. Carrion is very important for young birds in their first and second years, and they also favour mammals – particularly rabbits, when they are young. However, as they become older, they tend to gravitate towards wetland sites, where fish becomes the preferred prey item, as illustrated in the graphs below. Fish are either live caught or pirated from other piscivorous birds. Last year, when the first pair of White-tailed Eagles bred successfully, more than 50% of the prey items brought to the nest by the adults birds, G405 and G471, were fish. "

The Isle of Wight offers them a seasonal specialty which we won't see in the Baltic countries: cuttlefish!

[Liz01]

The North Report: Baby boom in the treetops

Never before have so many sea eagles lived in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: there were 450 breeding pairs with 358 young birds in 2023. The trend will continue in 2024. The nest caretakers of the OAMV (Ornithological Working Group Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania e.V.) have played a significant role in the success story. An NDR television team accompanied the volunteer regional coordinator for sea eagles WEST, René Feige, for a breeding season on the island of Poel. Like midwives, he and his nest caretakers document life in the nests. They provide the data material for science and nature conservation concerns.

Indicators of environmental change

Like hardly any other species, sea eagles are considered indicators of environmental change. The Mecklenburg ornithologists have now also become active in an adoption case. An orphaned eagle chick from near Xanten on the Lower Rhine was nursed back to health in the bird rescue center in the Eekholt wildlife park in Schleswig-Holstein and was placed with a pair of Mecklenburg sea eagles on the island of Poel in the summer. The operation was successful. The western eagle is now flying around the Baltic Sea.

https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/ ... 93798.html

[Liz01]

White-tailed Eagle Conference 2024 - Strengthening White-tailed Eagle network toward Southern Europe and Mediterranean countries. 15th to 21st September 2024.
viewtopic.php?t=1129&start=7160

thank you ame, for providing that!

the link:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... OATIA_2024

White-tailed eagle conference 2024
Strengthening White-tailed eagle network toward Southern Europe
and Mediterranean countries
15th – 21st September
Hotel Osijek, Osijek, Croatia

Scientific /Programme Committee:
William W. Bowerman, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, USA
Frank Hailer, Ph.D.
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
Oliver Krone, Ph.D.
Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Germany
Remo Probst, Ph.D.
Ornis − Biology Engineering Office and Research Institute, Feldkirchen, Austria
Alma Mikuška, Ph.D.
Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia
Tibor Mikuska, B.Sc.
Croatian Society for Bird and Nature Protection, Croatia

then follow the papers.....

Link PDF from this conference.
It's easier to read
file:///D:/Download/WTE_24_conference_Book_of_abstracts.pdf
..............................................................................................
edit by ame:

Liz, the whole book of proceedings is too long to put here. it's best to google first
"WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE CONFERENCE CROATIA 2024".
then go to the ResearchGate-link.

​​if i understood correct at the meeting the proceedings will not be in the net terribly long, so if one want to get the pdf-document it's best to download it soon.

[ame]

i added the article by me and Jānis here. it's on page 28 in the proceedings. (i removed my address; anyone here can contact me via LKF or by e-mail. that's enough)

"Session 2. Ecology & behaviour

WEIGHING THE NEST OF WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLES” – ESTIMATING THE MASS
OF MATERIAL THAT EAGLES BRING TO THE NEST BY UTILIZING OBSERVATIONS
MADE WITH A NEST CAMERA
Anne-Marie Elo1*, Jānis Ķuze2
1* Looduskalender Forum, viewforum.php?f=99, ******* , Fin-20**0 Turku, Finland, anmaelo@gmail.com
2 Latvian Fund for Nature, Riga, Latvia, Janis.Kuze@ldf.lv
Key words: breeding behaviour, nest building

The annual nest building of White-tailed Sea eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) was studied using material from a nest camera at an eagles’ nest in Durbe, Western Latvia (stream provided by the Latvian Fund for Nature), in 7 breeding seasons. The nest was inhabited by the same female with 4 different partners. Three times the eagle pair built the nest from zero as the previous nest has fallen, and in 4 seasons they built on the old nest.

All deliveries of nest material were recorded from the first item till 7 days after full egg number has been laid. Materials were classified in leafless hard sticks and soft materials: green twigs (mainly from spruce) and hay. The hard sticks were further classified according to their sizes which were estimated by comparing their dimensions with the dimensions of the eagles (thickness of legs, estimated as 2 cm, and body length, estimated as 80 cm).


The bigger sticks (L and M) form the main structure of the nest. The small sticks (S), green spruce twigs (GT) and hay (H) function as “glue”: besides filling gaps between sticks they increase friction between them. Eagles apparently “know” this and bring this filling material all the time during the building process.

In 2017 a new couple of young eagles, Milda and Raimis built their first nest on an old nest. Their eaglets tore their nests down in the next 2 years and the parents had to build a new nest on an empty branch each year. In their 4th season they repaired their old nest.

The season 2021 - 2022 was exceptional. Milda started with a new partner Mr L in the spring 2021. He was replaced by a new male Voldis in the middle of mating season in February 2022. The nest was thus built by Milda with two different males in succession. The next season was regular with Voldis. In the last season Milda had again a new mate Hugo and no nest in the beginning. The rebuilding of the nest began late, on January 30, and the work was done mainly by the male who made over 80 % of the deliveries in only 7 weeks.

Samples of materials like the nest materials used by the eagles were collected and weighed, and their average masses were determined. Also, the accuracies of the masses were estimated. Averages were used to calculate the seasonal increment of mass of the nests and their accuracies. The results are shown in Table 2 and in Figure 1.



"